Rope snubber



4`May 4,l 1943.

J. P. Fox

ROPE' SNUBBER Filed May 22 1942 f6 f 'u v Y Illu 27 2a y Limbs",- -fimmyinmiii Snventor l l Patented May 4, 1943 hairedl STATES rarest"ortica?? ROPE SNUBBER Joseph P. Fox, St. Cloud, Minn.

Application May 22, 1942, Serial No. 444,127

1 Claim.

This invention relates to a rope snubber.

An object of the invention is the provision oi a device which will readily grip a rope or cable and hold the same in position, but which will permit ready release of the rope when desired.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a device for clamping a rope against slippage in which a clamping element is movable over a toothed inclined plane for frictionally holding a cable or rope against a iixed part in such a manner that the cable will beheld against movement in one direction, but capable of being movable in the other direction whereby the clamping element will be inoperatively positioned so that the cable or rope may be moved freely through the device in either direction when desired.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a device for automatically retaining a rope against movement, said device being particularly adapted for retaining a cable or rope attached to an anchor against sliding movement after the anchor has been Xed in position for holding the boat, said device being so constructed that in one position of the rope said rope may be moved freely in opposite directions through the device while in another position the rope will be automatically clamped in place.

This invention will be best understood from a consideration of the following detailed description, in view of the accompanying drawing form-V ing a part of the specification; nevertheless, it is to be understood that the invention is not conned to the disclosure, being susceptible of such changes and modifications as define no material departure from the salient features of the invention as expressed in the appended claim.

In the drawing:

Figure l is a. view in perspective of the end of a boat showing the rope snubber clamped in position.-

Figure 2 is a plan view of the snubber shown in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a side view of the same.

Figure 4 is an end viewof the snubber.

Figure 5 is a vertical longitudinal section taken along the line 5-5 of Figure 2 showing the rope clamped against movement.`

Figure 6 is a vertical longitudinal section similar to the section shown in Figure 5 showing the clamping device in an inoperative position to permit free movement of the rope in opposite directions.

Figure '7 is a longitudinal vertical view of a modified form of the snubber attached to a boat.

Referring more particularly to the drawing,

I designates a boat having a deck portion II to which is attached a base portion I2 of a snubber generally Vdesignated by the numeral I3.

The base portion has a ilat under face with a plurality of perforations Ill which are adapted to receive screws or bolts I5 for attaching the base plate to the deck II. The base plate is so constructed that it will extend outwardly beyond the end of the boat and this extension is in the form of a yoke I6 having reinforced portions I'I to provide bearings for a shaft I8 carrying a pulley I9 over which a rope or cable 2G is trained,"

Formed integrally with the base plate' and rising therefrom is a housing generally designated by the numeral which has an elongated chamber 23 therein closed at its top by a cover plate 21. Pillars 23 are formed integrally with the base plate and also with the housing 25 and these pillars extend laterally from the side walls of the housing and are provided with threaded passages 29 which are in alinement with passages 30 in the cover plate 2T to receive bolts or screws 3l whereby the cover plate is secured rigidly to the housing.

The cover plate has a central body portion 32 having a notch 33 vat one end through which the rope 29 is'adapted to be moved for a purpose which will be presently explained. The cover plate is also provided with wings 34 in which the passages 3i) are formed and these wings extend over the top of the upper ends of the pillars 28.

y The under face of the cover plate is provided with a shallow channel 35 which is formed by ribs 36 depending from the under face at opposite sidesrof the channel. This channel at its forward end, Vas shown at 31, curves upwardly and is ad- `iacent the pulley I9.` The opposite end of the channel curves upwardly and merges into the notch 33 as shown at 38. The central 'portion of the channel as shown at 33 is shallow and is almost in the same plane with the outer edges of theribs 36 at these points. These ribs continue rearwardly as shown at 40 along the side edges of the slot 33 and terminate abovean opening 4l in the rear wall of the'housing which is confined between theside walls of thehousing and a lip- 42 which isupstanding from the base member I2 and integrally formed therewith.

The bottom of the chamber 26, as shown more particularly in Figs. 5 and 6, is curved upwardly from the lip 42 to a point indicated by the numeral 43 adjacent a front opening 44 in the housing. This front opening is coni-ined between the side walls of the housing and the highest point 43 of the curved bottom 45 of the housing and the inner end of the top or closure 21. It will be noted that the rope or cable 20 passes through the opening 44 thence through the housing and passes out through the opening 4I at the rear of the housing and over the upper edge of the lip 42.

A clamping roller 59 is provided with teeth 5I which are adapted to mesh with teeth 52 formed on the curved surface 45 at the bottom of the chamber 26.

This roller will normally lie in that portion of the chamber 2B which is indicated by the numeral 53 and the chamber at this point is of sufficient height so that the upper portion of the roller is spaced from the under face of the top 21 sui-V ciently to permit the rope or cable 29 to be drawn through the chamber 26 without coming in contact with the roller. When the roller 59 is shown in the position in Fig. 5 it has approached the narrow portion of the chamber 26 so that the roller will jam the cable against the shallow portion 39 of the groove 35 when a strain is exerted on the cable in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 5. When the roller is in the position shown in Fig. 6, however, the cable may be moved in either direction as indicated by the arrows in said gure.

A modified form of the snubber is shown in Fig. 7 inwhich the snubber per se, indicated by the numeral 55, is separated from the yoke 56 which is provided with bearings for an axle 51 of a pulley 58 upon which a cable 59 is trained. The yoke is formed integrally with the base member 60 which is secured to the deck of a boat 6 I Since the identical elements are found in the snubber 55 in exactly the same arrangement as is illustrated in Figs. 1 to 6, inclusive, no further description need be given of these elements and, therefore, the same reference numerals have been applied to the dotted line showing of these various elements in Fig. 7.

The upper end of the anchor 65 is tapered and provided with a transverse passage 66 which is large enough to receive a knot 61 formed on the outer end of the rope 20 for connecting the rope to the anchor.

The anchor has an expanded bottom 68 which engages the lower end of an annular guide 16 after the cable has drawn the tapered portion of the 'anchor through said guide. y

A bracket has one arm 1I secured to the bow of the boat I 6 while another arm 12 extending forwardly has a curved lip 13 secured to a projection 14 on the guide 10.

A pair of 'arms 15 and 16 have their upper ends rigidly secured to the underface of the base portion I2 of the snubber I3. The outer end of arm 15 has an angular portion 11 secured to a lip 18 extending from a flanged portion 19 of the guide 19. The outer end of the arm 16 has a. connection (not shown) with the flanged portion 19 of the guide which is similar to the connection 11 of the arm 15. However, the connections of the arms 15 and 16Y are at diametrically opposite points on the guide.

While the guide is shown in a position in Fig; l as holding the anchor in substantially a vertical position, the guide may be located at an acute angle to such position so that the anchor will be retained at a similar angle and when released will be projected outwardly from the boat.

The operation of my device is as follows: Referring to Fig. 6 it will be seen that when the free end of the rope 20 is held upwardly and is located within the slot 33 in the cover plate 21 said rope will not come in contact with the roller 50 and the rope may be moved in either direction particularly when a strain is exerted on the rope by a force or weight such as the anchor and in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 1. Thus, it will be seen that when the rope is in the position as shown in Fig. 6 it may be moved freely through the housing.

On the other hand, when it is desired to anchor the rope and retain it from further movement after the end 29a of the rope has been secured to a wharf or to the anchor 65 it is only necessary to lower the free end of the rope down- Wardly towards the upper edge of the lip 42 whence said rope will come in contact with the toothed roller 5i). When the rope is allowed to slide through the hand of the operator said rope being in frictional contact with the teeth of the roller will cause the roller to move towards the opening 44 in the housing I3. Since the roller rides upwardly on the toothed curved surface 45 of the bottom of the chamber 25 it will reach the point illustrated in Fig. 5 so that the roller will jam the rope or cable against the shallow portion 39 of the groove 35 and clamp said rope against further movement. The greater the pull on the end of the rope 26a and in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 5 the greater the frictional resistance will be against the slippage of the rope and the rope will be held more firmly against movement.

When it is desired to release the rope it is only necessary to raise the free end of the rope as shown in Fig. 6 and pull outwardly on the rope whence the roller 56 will be freed and it will roll by gravity back to the enlarged portion 53 of the chamber 26 and will remain inactive because it no longer contacts the rope.

I claim:

A rope snubber comprising a housing including a top and a base plate, said vbase plate having a forward extension, the forward extension being in the form of a loop, a pulley rotatably mounted in the loop for supporting a rope, said housing being open at its opposite ends to receive said rope therethrough, the base plate within the housing having an inclined portion provided with transverse teeth, a roller in the housing having longitudinal teeth meshing with the transverse teeth, the inner wall of the top of the housing having a cam cooperating with the upper end of the inclined portion to provide a restricted passage for the rope adjacent the forward end of the base plate, said roller adapted to be drawn upwardly over the inclined portion when tension is exerted on that portion of the rope which is supported bythe pulleyso that the rope will be wedged between the toothed roller and the cam.

" JOSEPH P. FOX. 

